Phillipe Nover: the most talented fighter lost.

Some of you may call question me for stating this non-obvious fact after he got dominated for two rounds last night. But hold your venom and hear me out.

Phillipe Nover will end up as the better fighter in the long run. This is one loss that will help define his career. Nover was clearly the better striker last night and it would take the most ardently anti-Nover guy to say otherwise. Efrain wanted nothing to do with him standing up and opted to take him down every time. Yet, Nover was never in danger of being submitted. He took several vicious shots to the face from his back but never faltered. Instead, he fought and defended well, but mostly from his back.

The third round rubber guard and near omaplata and gogoplata was BJ Penn-esque. The fact that his strongest round was the third after he got worned out by a better wrestler in Efrain the previous two rounds speaks positively of his cardio and heart. Lesser men have faltered from the grind of being in the guard far too long. Rewind to the Johnson-Burns fight, or go further back to the CroCop-Gonzaga fight for a reminder of what a brilliant tactic that is against strikers.

With the praise out of the way, we must still come to the realization that Nover lost--unanimously. His opponent fought a smart but boring fight, forcing Nover out of his element. There is one obvious glaring hole in Nover's game and that is his awful take down defense. Nover needs to call up Thiago Alves and ask him how to defend the takedown. Great strikers need great takedown defense...period.

Nover should switch to a real MMA camp. His camp did not prepare him for the obvious--strike hard where your opponent is weakest. Efrain's strength is his wrestling and the ground game is his domain. Contrast that with Nover's strength which is his striking. Did his camp not that know he is weak in wrestling? Anyone who watched last night fight already knows the obvious. How could his camp miss such details? Did his camp not realize that Efrain would rather take Nover to the ground since he's the superior wrestler? Where was the take down defense? From the ease of Efrain's take down, Nover did not train for that eventuality at all.

Nover came in with no game plan. Efrain executed his to perfection. Was it arrogance or stupidity on Nover's part? Nevertheless, Nover almost managed to derail Efrain's simple gameplan by reversing Efrain many times from the back, got up time and time again after being taken down continuously, and then managed to take the third round. Efrain was clearly slowing down by the third but by then it was too little too late.

Efrain is an absolutely talented fighter and will be one of the premiere MMA fighter in the lightweight division. He has terrific wrestling, killer takedowns, and awesome submissions. No one can argue that he did not win last night. And yet, I can't help but think that the more talented guy lost.